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A breeding viewpoint….
….I assume that cattle breeders who read this blog, are also regulars at the Kit Pharo website. If not, I suggest you should be. This week Kit links to an article in Beef Magazine that should resonate with all pure bred breeders…though it was aimed at the commercial cattleman. http://beefmagazine.com/blog/do-you-want-progress-or-change-cattle-breeding
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The true cost of a bull….
….in recent weeks, we’ve noted the same concern expressed on both sides of the Atlantic. In England, Farmers’ Weekly is warning that pumping up bulls with grain for shows and sales is setting up the buyer for an expensive disappointment. Farmers’ Weekly says, as we’ve noted here before, the heavy use of grain results in not only poor quality semen….but shortened useful life. Meanwhile, Kit Pharo, in his weekly newsletter, calculated the actual cost to the American cattleman for his “bigger and better” fixation. First, here is the British view: http://www.fwi.co.uk/articles/24/01/2014/142976/make-sure-breeding-bulls-are-fit-for-purpose.htm Pharo has made the same point before, and so have we, but Pharo takes it a step further…
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Kit blows the whistle…
….bull breeder Kit Pharo has a blurb in his weekly newsletter partially….if only partially….exposing the nonsense at many cattle auctions. I recall the confusion I felt at my first auction 25 years ago and wondering how anyone could really understand what was going on. Eventually, as I watched the bidding and the auctioneer more closely, and particularly researched the follow-up information, I began to realize that I wasn’t seeing and hearing what was really happening. As Kit puts it: Funny Money – Every week, I read and hear about bulls selling for $50,000, $80,000, $100,000, $130,000 – and even $400,000. JUST ONCE, I would like to know WHO the second-high…
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The looming meat “cliff”….
…and we could be falling off that, too. Kit Pharo linked to the drought monitor today and it demonstrates that while the drought over much of the country is forgotten….it certainly isn’t gone! http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/12_week.gif The drought has forced many ranchers we know in the Midwest and West to cut back their herds or even close down completely. The increased number of cattle going to slaughter earlier in the year has kept cattle prices fairly low, despite the high cost of corn. But now the overall national herd is at record low numbers and demand has been forcing cattle prices (and beef) to rise. But the worst is yet to come. …
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Once more with feeling…
….we were at a party last night where, once more, someone in one of the conversation circles, announced her family “just doesn’t eat much red meat anymore”. Not a vegetarian exactly, you understand, just would rather not eat much red meat. Because I was a guest (and off-duty), I again let the remark pass. I did not tell the lady that the chicken and pork she was feeding her family was a whole lot worse for them than red meat. But still, despite all the evidence, it’s my impression that most of the experts today are still cautioning against “too much”, whatever that is, red meat. We’ve linked to various…
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Grandpa knows best….
It’s interesting to watch our old friend Kit Pharo move in the direction of becoming a “healthy eating” advocate. For those of you who don’t know him, Kit is a very successful Colorado rancher who raised himself from rodeo vagabond to head what may be the largest bull stud operation in the country. We’re not sure whether it’s becoming a grandfather, or just age, but Kit now regularly writes about eating right. Until recently, he’s been far more into raising cattle at the lowest cost than he was about the quality of the meat they produced. Here’s the latest from his on-line blog: Carbage – Several people said our pre-sale…